Daniel Weinberg, who recently retired as a senior research scientist for the U.S. Census Bureau, nominated Abowd, along with John Haltiwanger (University of Maryland) and Julia Lane (American Institutes for Research) who are also receiving the award. The nomination was based on their work with the Census Bureau's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program.

The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program created the nation's first 21st century statistical system.

Using methods that would now be called "big data," the program has produced new statistical data on local labor markets including employment, job creations, job destructions, hiring, separations and earnings. It provides the most detailed time series data produced on the demographic characteristics of local labor markets.

The data are released quarterly as the Quarterly Workforce Indicators and annually as OnTheMap, a tool for studying work-related commuting patterns. The data, created entirely by integrating existing data sources, are available to the public.

Director of the Labor Dynamics Institute, Abowd has taught and done research at Cornell since 1987. His current research focuses on the creation, dissemination, privacy protection and use of linked, longitudinal data on employees and employers.